Dormant company accounts, kept simple

Directors are often caught out here: a company with no activity at all still has annual filing obligations, and the Companies House late filing penalties — £150 rising to £1,500 — apply to dormant accounts exactly as they do to trading accounts. An ignored dormant company is also a prime candidate for compulsory strike-off, which can mean losing the company name you were keeping.

• Dormant accounts — due 9 months after the accounting reference date. Never-traded companies limited by shares can use the simple AA02 form; companies that traded previously file dormant accounts showing the last balance sheet position.
• Confirmation statement (CS01) — at least once every 12 months, with the £34 online Companies House fee.
• Nothing to HMRC in most cases — once HMRC has been told the company is dormant, it normally stops requiring Company Tax Returns until the company becomes active again.

Read the full dormant company guide →

Dormancy ends the moment the company has a significant accounting transaction — issuing an invoice, paying a supplier, receiving trading income. When that happens you must tell HMRC within 3 months of starting business activity, and the next accounts will be full (micro-entity or small company) accounts rather than dormant ones. Planning to start trading? We’ll handle the switch: HMRC registration, bookkeeping setup and your first proper year-end.

See our full accounts service for active companies →

1. Confirm the company genuinely qualifies as dormant (and fix it if it doesn’t)
2. Prepare and file the dormant accounts each year
3. Check and file the confirmation statement, including the Companies House fee
4. Notify HMRC of dormancy so no unnecessary tax returns are demanded
5. Remind you of every deadline while the company stays dormant

Keep my dormant company compliant →